


Natural Principles

by Arcadias_Fire



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Gen, Historical References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 10:04:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12363330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arcadias_Fire/pseuds/Arcadias_Fire
Summary: A small boy in need of comfort receives some friendly advice.





	Natural Principles

The boy sitting on the wall didn't hear the stranger until it was too late to avoid him. He'd been sitting on the low stone wall for some time now; he couldn't bring himself to go home. He hadn't heard the stranger because he was crying. That and the stranger was remarkably quiet. 

“Mind if I join you?”

The stranger was an old man with short silver hair and hooded blue-gray eyes. His clothes looked strange, but the velvet and silk were clearly expensive. A gentleman then. 

The boy shrugged in reply. “It's not my wall.” 

The man smiled – he had a nice smile – and sat down on the wall a couple of feet from the boy. They sat in silence for a few minutes. 

“Trouble at school?” the man asked. 

The boy shrugged again. “I guess.”

“Upper class-man throwing his weight around?” the man asked shrewdly.

“How did you know?” the boy asked, looking at the man as if he'd grown a second head.

The man stared across the field, not meeting the boy's gaze. “That sort of thing happens all the time. People think they can take advantage of you when you're little.” 

The boy shrugged again. “I guess I deserve it though.” 

The man looked sharply at the boy. “No, never believe that! If someone is bigger, it by no means makes them right.” 

The boy shook his head. “It's not that,” he said. “It's... it's that nobody wants me.” He sniffled and wiped his eyes, wondering why he was talking to this strange man at all.

“I'm sure that's not true.”

The boy kicked his heels against the stones of the wall. “It is. I'm stupid, lazy, Mamma doesn't want me around, and I'm failing everything at that stupid school. I'm too little to fight properly, so everyone picks on me. It would be better if I'd never been born!” The boy was weeping now, but he didn't care. 

“Here now!” the man exclaimed. “Every life is worthwhile, even the smallest and most insignificant.” The man said this with such conviction that the boy almost believed him. 

The man pointed to the flowers at their feet. “You see those daisies there?”

The boy nodded, wiping his nose. 

“Those flowers are the product of the perfection of the universe, just as you are. Every petal, every leaf, is carefully crafted over millions of year to be exactly what it needs to be. Sunlight travels over millions of miles and the the daisies turn their faces to see it. Their color, their scent, even their simple shape is a reflection of that cosmic perfection. So are you.” 

The boy was stunned. He stared at the tiny white flowers for a minute. 

“Then... then why did Mamma leave me?” he finally asked in a small voice. 

The man rubbed the back of his neck looking uncomfortable. “Well, sometimes people leave. Their paths and yours are different. Everybody has to do the best they can for themselves. It hurts, I know. It always hurts when someone leaves you, but...” he trailed off, looking across the field. “... but we just have to make the most of what we have.” 

“Make the most?”

“Yes.” 

The boy looked up at the sky, noting that several hours had passed since he arrived at the wall. The sun was approaching the horizon now. 

“Look, what interests you?” the man asked.

The boy blinked. No one had ever asked him that before. “I don't know. The Sun, the stars?” 

“Right, great things, stars. Now, I know that school seems boring now, but once you get passed basic sums, there's fantastic things to be learned about the skies. I'm sure you're a bright boy, you can get through it if you apply yourself.” 

The boy made a face.

“It won't be that bad, trust me.” 

There was a long pause. 

“Alright, what about Thomas Merryweather?”

“The bully?”

The boy nodded.

The man frowned. “Well, far be it for me to condone violence, but the best way to deal with a bully is to stand up for yourself. You'll show that even though you're little, you have a big spirit and won't be pushed around.” 

“Will that work?” the boy asked skeptically.

The man stared across the field, a far away look in his eyes. “When I was at school, there was this other boy who picked on me... a lot. Anyways, I stood up to him – I ended up punching him in the stomach, actually – and he stopped. We eventually became quite good friends.”

“Are you still?” the boy asked curiously. 

The man looked sadly down at the boy. “That's a rather more complicated question.” 

They sat in companionable silence for a moment. 

“I can't see myself being friends with Thomas Merryweather.”

The man laughed. “It isn't required.” 

“Good.”

The light was changing now, the shadows lengthening along the ground. 

“I should get home.”

“Yes.” The man got to his feet. 

“Thank you for the talk, sir. I'll keep what you said in mind.” 

“You do that, young man.” The man held out his hand. “I'm the Doctor, by the way.”

“Isaac,” the boy replied. “Isaac Newton.” 

The Doctor smiled down at him as they shook hands. “Wonderful to meet you, Isaac. I expect great things from you.” 

 

“I'll do my best, Doctor.”

“That's all anyone can ask of you.”

**Author's Note:**

> This work was originally posted on A Teaspoon and an Open Mind and can still be found there. 
> 
> Historical Note: When Isaac Newton was a child he was in fact a bit a of a screw-up, but changed literally overnight. One day, an older boy beat him up at school. The next day, he challenged the bully to a rematch and won. From that day onward, he applied himself to his studies and became a star pupil, eventually growing up to be the man that history and science needed him to be.


End file.
